By Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki

Today, the Senate passed a motion on the two year observance of the abduction of the 276 Chibok School Girls that were taken at gunpoint from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2012.

This abominable event, unforgettable in its own right – as one of the greatest mass abductions of young people in the history of the world – marked a crucial turning point in Nigeria’s war against the terrorist group Boko Haram. This is because since this episode came to light, the world began to pay attention to our collective struggle as a nation against radical insurgency.

Since then, many of us have rallied and campaigned in every way that we know how, and demanded as one nation that our young daughters and sisters be returned back to us safe and unscathed.

To aid in these efforts, we in the National Assembly have worked to empower our men and women in uniform by appropriating funds to ensure that they are properly equipped in their battles on the front lines. Because of this, since this administration took office nearly a year ago, we have recorded significant successes in our efforts to reclaim once-lost territory. To put it simply, our formidable armed forces have taken back large swarths of Nigerian territory that were once under Boko Haram control.

Nonetheless, more needs to be done to ensure that the communities affected by Boko Haram are resuscitated and rebuilt. Yet still, even more needs to be done to guarantee that never again in this history of our nation will we experience a tragedy like this.

Moving forward, to address the plight of the North East, the Senate will work expeditiously on the passage of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), that is aimed at restoring the livelihoods of our millions of internally displaced people (IDPs), and putting back our more than 10.5 million school-age children that are out of the classroom back in schools.

To aid the capabilities of our security agencies to combat terrorism in all its forms, laws like the Biometric Identification bill – which have passed second reading, will be fast-tracked to ensure that the Nigerian police and other relevant agencies have a robust crime and criminal tracking system that will enhance our national security and counter-terrorism efforts through the automation of criminal records with biometric identification data.

As we work to put the legislative frameworks in place to ensure that occurrences like the abduction of our Chibok Girls remains a thing of the past, the executive must treat the return of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls and all other Nigerians that have been kidnapped by Boko Haram as an outright priority. We owe it to ourselves as a nation, and to their families to bring all our abducted countrymen and women home.

It is clear that with the pace that this government is going, this insurgency will be tackled once and for all. However, governments across all levels in the federation must work together to secure our young population. In this regard, solid security structures must also be put in place to guarantee that when our children leave their homes to get an education, they are safe and secure.

On our part, the Senate will continue to dig-up and work on the review of our existing laws that address counter-terrorism and security. As I have stated at different times, the work of nation building requires our collective effort. In a similar vein, the task of bringing back our girls requires our unconquerable resolve to do so.

Therefore, as we remember our abducted girls and our mission to ensure their safe return, we must not equivocate and we must not relent. Nigeria must not forget her daughters.
Saraki is the President of the Nigerian Senate